Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm trying to download new graphics drivers for my NVIDIA card, but the website says I have to download from "the manufacturer of this system", which I think is HP, since it is an HP Pavilion dv6815m laptop. Is that the manufacturer of the system?

Anyway, I went to the HP website to download the drivers, clicked on the "Support and drivers" tab, then the page says "step 1: start by selecting a task". When I click either option, nothing happens. what do I do?

HP is the brand.

You may want to try a different browser. Some websites only like certain browsers. So if you're using Firefox/Opera/Chrome/Whatever, you may have to use (gasp!) IE.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

HP is the brand.

You may want to try a different browser. Some websites only like certain browsers. So if you're using Firefox/Opera/Chrome/Whatever, you may have to use (gasp!) IE.

Ok, how do I find out who is the manufacturer of my system then?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Ok, how do I find out who is the manufacturer of my system then?

Oops, bad wording -- I should have said HP is manufacturer.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Okay, I tried IE, but it keeps saying "error on page" in the bottom left corner of the window

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Now I'm stumped. Best to wait for someone else to figure it out.

If you know your exact display, you can get the drivers from the NVIDIA site. I think it'll be in the Display Properties or Device Manager or something.

Edit: On Vista, I found it under the Advanced Settings under Display Settings. In Vista, it's under Customize, in XP it's Display Properties.

 

[Cutlass]

Link the page you are having trouble with.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

http://www.hp.com/#Support

 

[Cutlass]

dv6815m does not exist according to them. can you clarify that?

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

dv6815m does not exist according to them. can you clarify that?

Maybe it's because I got it from best buy?

I got it about 6 - 8 months ago.

Other than that, I don't think I can clarify it.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

I went to my system specs in the control panel, and it says the model is "HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook PC"

I think when I saw it on best buy website, it said "HP Pavilion dv6815nr" notebook pc.

 

[Cutlass]

I went to my system specs in the control panel, and it says the model is "HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook PC"

I think when I saw it on best buy website, it said "HP Pavilion dv6815nr" notebook pc.

That's what I needed. There is no "m" on the product list. Beyond that, last night when I first followed your link it worked and I was able to get through the pages and find downloads, but I didn't have your correct model number. However now I am experiencing the problem that the page gives an error and I cannot proceed. So you may have to try a number of different times before you get there.

edit, which OS are you using?

edit 2, is this the driver you need? http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_179.48_beta.html

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

That's what I needed. There is no "m" on the product list. Beyond that, last night when I first followed your link it worked and I was able to get through the pages and find downloads, but I didn't have your correct model number. However now I am experiencing the problem that the page gives an error and I cannot proceed. So you may have to try a number of different times before you get there.

edit, which OS are you using?

edit 2, is this the driver you need? http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_179.48_beta.html

I'm using Vista 32-bit, so the drivers in the link wouldn't work for me. My Graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M. Another name for it is "MCP67M".

 

[Cutlass]

Is this the right one? http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista_179.48_beta.html

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Is this the right one? http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista_179.48_beta.html

Thanks. I also got to the HP support page at just the right time, so I was able to download their driver.

Now, another question: How do I make room for the most possible system restore points in windows vista? And how do I save those restore points on another hard drive so they won't be deleted?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

If you have a boot sector virus in your HDD, and for some reason can't get DBAN or something, can you run a strong magnet over it to remove the virus? Or would that render the HDD unusable?

 

[lndm]

You'd run the risk of magnetising parts that probably shouldn't be biased, not to mention the trouble in low level formatting. Anyway, if the drive can access the sector then so can you.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Thanks.

So I guess you can use magnets to destroy HDDs? If you took a magnet to a drive, then removed it to see the platter, would the platter be clear? I'd try for myself, but I don't have a spare drive.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

It would only be clear if the substrate was clear, but you'd need one helluva magnet to clear off the platters. Technically, a strong enough magnet would be able to pull you apart too, so the point is moot.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Wow, where'd you see that, magnets ripping people apart? I tried googling it and didn't find anything.

Edit: Interesting thing I found about somebody pulling apart an old HDD to see what was inside and found rare-earth magnets.

 

[lndm]

I gave a friend a matched pair of 1" long cylindrical neodymium magnets and suggested he try to pull them apart. He snapped his finger between them badly enough to bring tears to his eyes